A film about Durham Miners' Gala which will be released this week with premiere screenings at three North East cinemas

The Big Meeting will premiere on Friday September 6 at Tyneside Cinema , Newcastle; Gala Cinema, Durham; and South Shields' Customs House.

For the documentary, film makers were given unprecedented access to the 2018 Durham Miners' Gala , and interviewed the likes of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MP Dennis Skinner.

The feature length film follows four people during the July Gala, and aims to reflect the 'past, present and future of the Gala and labour movement'.

Director Daniel Draper first visited the Gala in 2016, and filmed at the Gala for his documentary on Mr Skinner, 2017's Nature of the Beast.

Crowds watching the marching bands at the 2019 Miners gala in Durham city (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

Daniel said: “Visiting and filming the Gala in 2016, I was exposed to the colour, noise and environment for the first time.

"It’s something I’ve struggled to articulate into words to people ever since. I don’t think words can do justice to such an occasion.

"I feel like the Gala is a living and breathing organism: something not static but immovable - a celebration of working-class life not just today but almost as if it takes place in the past and future simultaneously. "

He added: "I suppose this film is an elaborate explanation of something wonderful and beyond words."

Daniel and the Shut Out the Light film company returned to the Miners' Hall, Redhills, to premiere Nature of the Beast in 2017.

They approached the Durham Miners' Association to ask about making the documentary about the Gala. Durham Miners agreed and offered full behind the scenes access to the Gala.